The steak shop formerly known as "C h i n k 's" (Philadelphia: sales, 2013)

[Larry Bowa]

Good deed punished? Controversial name changed but business drops off

[jazzy jeff]

I still eat there when I am in the area.

[Larry Bowa]

So do I, and they're as good as ever. I don't care what the name is.

[alphamale]

He caved and now he's paying the price.

C H I N K S is a destination......Joe's is not.

[phillies2011]

Originally Posted by alphamale

He caved and now he's paying the price.

C H I N K S is a destination......Joe's is not.

Exactly, he should have known better than to make a progressive and intelligent choice in Northeast Philadelphia. That type of thing doesn't fly there. Backwards, racist idiocy is more their style.

[Phil A. Delphia]

He also got (voluntarily) hosed by the consultant he hired to assist with the name change. They recommended Joe's based on the competition being named Pat's, Geno's, Steve's...

I could have recommended that for a few grand myself.

[Snwmn5]

It seemed a little late in the game to change the name of a local institution. I'm sure in the long run business could bounce back, but there's always an initial backlash from your loyal following when you rebrand something.

Also, the article talks about sales being down on a month-to-month basis. I obviously don't know the specifics of the shop's sales throughout the years, but with the neighborhood declining around Joe's that location doesn't seem ideal for long-term success.

[Larry Bowa]

Originally Posted by Snwmn5

It seemed a little late in the game to change the name of a local institution. I'm sure in the long run business could bounce back, but there's always an initial backlash from your loyal following when you rebrand something.

Also, the article talks about sales being down on a month-to-month basis. I obviously don't know the specifics of the shop's sales throughout the years, but with the neighborhood declining around Joe's that location doesn't seem ideal for long-term success.

I was thinking the same thing about the neighborhood. We were there in June and it's looking more and more ghetto (thug-types hanging around, trash all over the place, ghetto looking bodega across the street). Phillies2011 would feel right at home.

[Larry Bowa]

Originally Posted by phillies2011

Exactly, he should have known better than to make a progressive and intelligent choice in Northeast Philadelphia. That type of thing doesn't fly there. Backwards, racist idiocy is more their style.

My woman is Chinese and the name didn't bother her one iota.
What do you think should be done about Polock Johnny's in Baltimore? I'm of Polish descent and I'm not offended.

[phillies2011]

Originally Posted by Larry Bowa

My woman is Chinese and the name didn't bother her one iota.
What do you think should be done about Polock Johnny's in Baltimore? I'm of Polish descent and I'm not offended.

I don't know and I don't really care. Was Polock Johnny actually polish? Cause that would at least be a start in the right direction. It always seemed to me the most offensive part about c h i n k s was the guy it was named after wasn't Chinese and he got the nickname of a racist slur due to physical feature that his friends felt was stereo-typically Chinese in its characteristics and so they mocked it.

The truth is though, I didn't really care whether or not c h i n k s changed its name. Overall I think it's probably better we don't have a popular cheesteak place in philly that carries the name of a horrible racial slur, but I certainly wasn't going to do anything to change it. In the grand scheme of things I simply didn't care all that much. So as annoying as I found the pc police who pushed for the name change, the racist idiots who now refuse to eat there are the biggest idiots of all. who would stop going to a place they enjoyed simply because the name no longer contained an awful racial slur within its title.